The skijumping Summer Grand Prix just started one week ago with the first competitions in Hinterzarten. For me it was the first time since 2009 that I went there again and it was a great time. I spent my one week summer vacation in Hinterzarten, so I didn’t go there only for skijumping. I met a lot of nice people and this great skijumping weekend went by a little bit too fast! We had really great weather, the sun was shining all day long, but unfortunately it was already too hot with more than 30°C every day. Saturday was the worst day, so that I didn’t watch the Mixed Team Competition til the end. Here’s a little summary of the days in Hinterzarten: Friday: The skijumping day started early in the morning with the training and qualification of the ladies for their competition in the evening. A qualification was not necessary because there were less than 50 starters, so we saw three training rounds. Not all athletes were starting, for example the German girls, who were already training a day before. The ladies training was followed by the men’s training and qualification in the afternoon. It was really worth waiting all the time at the hill because we saw the comeback of a legend – Janne Ahonen. He announced his second comeback after the last winter season. As I read that he would come to Hinterzarten I was really happy about that but still not sure if he really would be there. He is the reason why I started watching skijumping, my first favorite athlete and he’ll always be no matter how good or bad he jumps! But he really was in Hinterzarten and showed pretty good jumps. It was awesome that I had the possibility to see him once again. You could see that he enjoyed it very much to be back, he gave lots of autographs – I’ve never seen him like this before. ;) The qualification was won by Dawid Kubacki. After the men it was time for the ladies again with their competition. This time we saw all athletes and it was an exciting comp. It’s great to see how they improved and I have to say that it really doesn’t matter if a man or a lady is jumping. I already watched some ladies training days before and I’m very impressed by the little Sara Takanashi from Japan. It’s just crazy what she’s doing and it’s fun to watch her amazing long jumps. She was my favorite for the competition, but she didn’t win. She became second behind an amazing jumping Alexandra Pretorios. Katja Pozun became third. It’s also nice to see that countries like Canada which are not that good in men skijumping have some girls who can win. For many people it was a surprise that a girl from Canada won, because they know that the men are not jumping that well. For me it wasn’t a surprise because she already jumped like this last summer. Saturday: On Saturday it was time for the Mixed Team Competition. That means two ladies and two men are jumping together. Ten teams were starting and for me it was the first time that I saw this competition live. I really like the idea of this competition. Unfortunately I didn’t saw the whole competition because Saturday was the hottest day of the year and it was terrible. Respect to everyone who was jumping in the heat, I could imagine that it wasn’t that easy. ;) Japan was the favorite for this comp and in the end they were the strongest team. Slovenia came in second, Germany third. Sunday: Last day of this years summer skijumping in Hinterzarten with the men’s competition. We saw many good jumps with a German double victory in the end. Freitag took away the victory ahead of Wellinger. I was a little bit surprised of Matjaz Pungartar who became third. It’s nice to see a new face on the podium. Janne Ahonen became seventh. A great result for his secod comeback and I hope that we will see more results like that in the next comps! All pictures can be found in the skijumping sections! The pics of the Mixed Team Competition can be found in both skijumping sections (ladies & men)! Enjoy! A report of the rest of my vacation is coming soon!